Always
by InTheirClothes
Summary: It's been eight years since Kurt and Blaine have seen or even heard from each other. And now they've run into each other at the single most unlikely place. A day care centre.
1. Prologue

**August 2021**

Blaine quickly shoved his legs through his pants and the sweater over his head, he glanced at the clock on the wall; 5:20.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" he muttered finding shoes and putting them on, not worrying about socks. There was no time for that. He glanced the mirror in dismay at his wet, dripping curls; they would have to stay like that he guessed. He quickly grabbed his wallet, shoving it into his back pocket, and his keys and raced out the door.

Fifteen minutes later he was at '_Holly's All-Day Childcare Centre_' he was parked crookedly, but it didn't matter. He'd sign Maddison out then they'd be off again to the supermarket so he could feel like he was being responsible in some way and at least feeding her well.

As he walked in he was greeting by the bubbly blonde Holly herself.

"Hello Blaine. We were wondering when you'd get here."

"I'm so sorry Holly. Work ran late and I-"

He held up a hand to silence him. "It's ok. You're not the last to arrive."

He looked over, and sure enough Maddison was playing dolls with another girl with chestnut, braided hair. Part of him felt bad, leaving the chestnut haired child all alone, but he really had to get going.

"Maddy," he said.

She looked up from the game she was playing. Her hazel eyes lit up as soon as she saw him.

"Daddy!" she squealed, jumping up and running to him.

"Hey kiddo." he grinned as he scooped her up while she hugged him tightly around the neck, her legs quickly gripping around his waist.

"I missed you all day." she said, kissing him on the cheek, she then scrunched her face up. "Ew, you're all prickly."

He laughed. "Sorry. Are you ready to get dinner?"

She nodded, then glanced back at the chestnut haired girl.

"What's Lily going to eat?" she asked.

Blaine shrugged. "That's up to her mom or dad."

"And, here's Kurt now for her." Holly said smiling.

Blaine was not the type of man to believe in fate, or the stars, or any sort of higher being planning out his life for him. Enough had happened in his life to disprove any kind of evidence of anything like that. However, in that moment he wasn't so sure. Maybe the fates were real. And maybe they were extremely cruel.

Because the very last person he expected to see walking through that door was the one person who did.

Kurt Hummel.

"Holly, I'm sorry, I'll pay extra for the time she was here." Kurt said, apparently not seeing Blaine, who was frozen to the spot, at all.

"It's alright Kurt, Maddy only just got picked up as well."

"Oh? Oh good, at least she wasn't..." he trailed off as he focused in on Blaine, who was still unable to move. "Oh."

"Yeah." he managed to choke out.

"Daddy, I'm hungry." the girl in his arms suddenly jolted him back to reality.

"Oh. Right, we're leaving now sweetie." he looked back at Kurt. "We were just leaving." he said to him unnecessarily.

"Right." Kurt nodded.

"I thought I should mention to you two men, Maddy and Lily have been glued to each others sides all week, maybe you should organise a play date for them sometime." Holly said, smiling at them both.

Blaine did not like that idea.

"Uh, yeah, maybe." he stuttered out. "I have to go. Busy night. Bye." he said hastily, avoiding looking at Kurt.

"Bye Holly, bye Lily, bye Lily's dad." Maddison waved enthusiastically.

And Blaine fled from there as quickly as he could.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Throwing this out as a bit of a feeler to see what people think because I'm insanely insecure. So... if you enjoyed it, it would be awesome if you let me know by leaving a review or something :) I'm sure you have 500 questions about the little situation that exists right now :) haha**


	2. Chapter One

Blaine tried not to think about Kurt again. He spent all that night trying to focus on cooking dinner, and even went out of his way to make creme brûlée for dessert, just for something to do.

He had no control over his dreams, however, and that night experienced a series of flashbacks of memories. Some amazing, others things he'd hoped he'd forgotten.

He woke up well before his alarm unable to get back to sleep.

He dropped Maddison off at Holly's, avoiding the temptation to go earlier than normal, she'd been going to Holly's for several months now and he had never run into Kurt before…

He just had to make sure he didn't run late picking her up again.

The weeks passed slowly and Kurt was almost all but forgotten to Blaine. Or at least, would have been, if it weren't for the fact that every time he picked Maddison up, she was playing happily with a little chestnut haired girl… and that she spoke about Lily all the time.

It was only normal for him to wonder, wasn't it? Who was she? Where was she from and why was she in Kurt's life? Obviously she was his daughter so… did that mean he was married? Was she his biologically? Or had he and his… husband… adopted her?

Surely Kurt had wondered, at least to some capacity about Maddison… Or maybe he really had truly moved on and didn't care anymore. That thought hurt more than Blaine wanted to admit.

**x x x**

**September 2021**

"Maddy, why aren't you dressed?" Blaine asked feeling exasperated at walking into her room and finding her still wearing her pyjamas, sneakers on her feet and backpack slung over one shoulder.

"I want to wear my pyjama's." she said simply.

"Is it pyjama day at day care today?" he asked, honestly wondering if he'd missed a note or something.

"No."

"Then why… why do you want to wear your pyjamas?"

"Because I hate dresses." Maddison scrunched up her nose.

Blaine did his best to keep his face calm; they were already running later than normal and didn't want to have to deal with a tantrum.

"Then wear your jeans sweetie. Come on, you can't go to day care dressed for bed."

"I don't like jeans either. They don't have fairies on them."

"Maddison, please, get dressed right now." He said, walking over to her wardrobe and picking out a pair of jeans and a top that he knew had a fairy on it. "Don't make me get you in trouble ok, Daddy doesn't feel like yelling. Do you feel like being yelled at?" he asked.

She shook her head solemnly.

"See? Fairies on your shirt."

She grinned and grabbed the clothes from him.

"Do you need help?"

"Dad, I'm three years old. I can get dressed myself. Leave." She waved her hand at the door in a gesture for him to get out of the room.

"Hey, you can't boss me around."

"I want to get dressed!" she said, pushing at his thighs to get him to move. "Daddy! Please leave my room."

"Ok, ok… if you're not downstairs in five minutes I'm coming back."

Ten minutes later Blaine was buckling up Maddison's seatbelt for her and leaving to go to Holly's.

Blaine might have sped a little to get to Holly's on time; the small car park was full so he was forced to park along the street. From the backseat, Maddison unbuckled herself and climbed out of the car.

"Hold my hand to cross the road." Blaine said.

She gripped onto his hand obediently as they walked across the road and into Holly's. Blaine quickly signed her in.

"How are you today Blaine?" Holly asked with a grin.

"Uh, good now. We were in a bit of a hurry so I've signed her up for your food today." usually he would pack lunch for Maddison, because she was a frustratingly picky eater, and rather have Holly have to deal with tantrums and him having to deal with a starving child every afternoon, it was easier just to pack a lunch for her.

He bent down to be at her level. "Now, Maddison, are you listening to me?" he asked.

She nodded solemnly.

"Good. Please eat whatever Miss Holly gives you today, ok?"

"Ok."

"Even if it's not your favourite food. Because you won't get anything else to eat until dinner."

"What if it's yucky?"

"Eat what you can alright?"

She nodded.

"Do you promise?"

"Promise."

"Good." he held up his pinkie to her and she gripped it with her own. They shook their hands and Maddison giggled. "Be good today, I love you." he kissed her on the cheek and watched her walk inside the room.

He turned and left, heading back out to his car ready to get to work for the next day. But when he got to his car he stopped short at the sight before him. There was a huge dent in the back passenger door. Blaine groaned to himself.

"Are you serious right now?" he asked no one.

He inspected the damage. It was bad, the door would definitely have to get replaced, that was for certain, and extremely frustrating.

He then checked the windscreen, the universal place for leaving details in such an event and almost sighed in relief when there was a piece of paper stuck by the wiper. At least whoever had hit him was one of the few semi-decent people left. He couldn't count how many friends of his had been victims of hit and runs.

He grabbed the paper and gave it a quick glance.

'_Sorry, I was in a rush and not paying attention. Send me your insurance details and I'll sort it out._

_-Kurt Hummel_'

A phone number was written at the end.

Blaine felt his heart speed up, whether from nerves, or dread, he wasn't sure. It felt like a combination of both. He knew the longer he put off the call, the less likely he'd be able to make it. Slowly he punched the number into his phone.

"Kurt speaking."

"Hi Kurt... It seems you decided to run into my car."

"Who is this?"

"It's uh, I'm a little disappointed you don't recognise my voice. It's Blaine."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you to everyone who's reading! The chapters will get longer, I tend to take a couple of chapters to warm up though. Let me know what you think so far! **


	3. Chapter Two

"Blaine?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, um... Oh. I didn't… I'm sorry about your car." Kurt stuttered out.

"Hey, accidents happen right?"

"Right... look, I'm in the car right now, can I call you back in a couple of hours."

"Yeah, sure, of course you can."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye."

He dropped his phone on the seat next to him and let out a shaky breath.

Kurt had once been his everything. His best friend, his boyfriend, the love of his life... everything. Talking to him just then had been like talking to a complete stranger. Of course it had been years. Eight to be exact, not that he was paying close attention. And even though it had felt like just yesterday they were giddy twenty year olds excited to be in big wide New York City, they'd now both moved on. He had his own life now, one Kurt wasn't a part of. He had a job, a child... this whole life that Kurt knew nothing about and it was the same for Kurt. He had a whole life Blaine knew nothing about.

It shouldn't be that strange that they were basically strangers. That they spoke like people who barely knew each other.

Work that morning was slow. He couldn't concentrate, and he knew his work that morning was suffering because of it (and Angela who sat across from him kept giving him questioning glances all morning). He was too busy waiting for Kurt's call. He couldn't quite tell if he was anticipating it, or dreading it, or if he was feeling a combination of both. One hour passed, then two, then three...

Was he ever going to hear back? Maybe Kurt had forgotten all about it.

Around the four hour mark, he was about to go and get lunch when his phone started ringing. He grabbed it and stated at the screen. It was an unknown number, and really, could be anybody... but he just knew… he took a deep breath before accepting the call.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Blaine?"

"Kurt, hi." he sat back down at his desk, ignoring yet another questioning glance from Angela.

"Again, I'm really sorry about hitting you. I'll take care of everything, I promise."

"How's your car?" Blaine asked.

"Uh, smashed headlight, but otherwise ok."

"Alright, look, your damage is more important to fix, so I'll send you my details, but I don't want you to worry about it at all until your car is good as new."

"Blaine, that's not-"

"How it works, I know, it doesn't matter. A broken headlight is worse than a banged up door. You can't drive at night."

Kurt let out a slightly breathy laugh.

"What?"

"You're exactly the same." he said.

"Oh?"

"Just… it's nice to know. Look, my email is kurth at districtd dot com, just send through all your insurance details, ok?"

Blaine quickly copied down the email on a scrap piece of paper. He was about to say thank you and bye, when suddenly other words were spilling out of his mouth.

"Hey, look, I know this might be... over stepping boundaries or something, I don't even know, but... Maddy and Lily seem to get along really well and Maddy is constantly begging if she can invite Lily over... she doesn't always get along with other kids."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Kurt said rather shortly.

"Kurt..."

"I honestly mean no offence, but, it's been a long time since, well, us and I don't even have a clue who your husband is, I'm not particularly comfortable dropping my daughter off at practically a strangers house for a play date."

"Lucky for you then, I'm not married." he said, trying to keep his tone light, but knew he was failing.

"Oh." there were so many questions in that one syllable, but Blaine couldn't begin to try and acknowledge even one.

"Look, just think about it, please, for the girls. We can surely push our differences aside for them. And you're welcome to stay over for the time if you'd like, or we could even come to your house, I mean, I'll drop Maddy off. It's up to you. But for the girls sake, I think it's a good idea."

"I'll think about." Kurt said firmly. "But no promises."

"Ok. Good. Thank you."

"It was nice um, talking to you again."

"Yeah..."

"Have a good day."

"You too."

He set his phone down on his desk and took a deep breath.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I kind of like posting shorter chapter because it means I can update more frequently. I will try to make them longer, but we'll see. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed/alerted/favourited this story so far :) would still like to know what you think of this :)**


	4. Chapter Three

Blaine usually thoroughly enjoyed the evenings, and this one was no different. He stood at the bench, slicing and dicing vegetables for a stir-fry while Maddison sat opposite him happily colouring in one of her books. He actually enjoyed being domestic. There was something extremely calming about it that helped him to relax and forget about everything else.

"Daddy," Maddison said, looking up from her pencils.

"Yes?"

"Today we were drawing pictures of our families." She said.

"Oh really?" he asked. "And where is yours?"

"It's not finished yet. Your hair is hard to draw."

Blaine laughed. "Maddison Hill, always the perfectionist."

She grinned at him. "But, guess what?"

"What?"

"Lily was drawing her family too."

"What a coincidence."

"Huh?" Her face scrunched up in confusion.

"Never mind, keep going." He said, taking another carrot and slicing it up.

"Yeah, well guess what?"

"What?"

"Lily has two daddies too!" She exclaimed.

He paused what he was doing for a second. Of course she did… he… he knew better than anyone that Kurt was gay. Lily having another father shouldn't have been a surprise. Of course Kurt had found someone and was happily married, with an adorable kid.

… Of course their two kids would decide to become best friends.

"Wow." Blaine feigned amazement.

"Yeah. No one else did though. Jacob said it was weird and that people are spose to have a mum and dad, not two dads, but Lily told him to shut up and stop talking like an idiot, which she got in trouble for. And Lily said both her dads live with her… not like how Papa lives in the city though."

Blaine had to take a deep breath. He _knew_ Kurt was married, or at the very least, had someone important in his life and he…

It had been eight years. Blaine didn't know why it hurt a little bit to hear that he was living with another man because it shouldn't have, he'd moved on, but…

"Well, every family is different." He said finally.

"I know." She said simply, suddenly sounding wiser than her four years. "I like my family how it is."

"Good, because I do too. Now, dinner is going to be ready really soon, so can you pack all this away and go and wash your hands."

She nodded and started putting all the pencils back into the pencil case she had before carrying it off to her room.

Blaine sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He always felt like he didn't have a clue about what he was doing and was winging every moment. He didn't know the first thing about being a father. God knows he didn't exactly have the best example growing up.

He put rice into two bowls, piling the stir fry on top and was just about finished when Maddison came back in wriggling her fingers out in front of her.

"All clean. I can't see any germs."

"Wait, inspection." He said, leaning down to her height and playfully scrutinising her hands. "Hmm… let me see the back."

She flipped her hands around for him. He studied them for a moment longer.

"Hurry up with the aspeshion Daddy!"

He nodded. "They pass." He stood up to full height again. "And it's in-spec-tion."

"In-spesh-ion" she repeated.

"Close enough. Now, let's eat."

**x x x**

A few days passed without him hearing at all from Kurt, Blaine supposed it was a good thing, because it at least meant there hadn't been any problems with the details he'd given him. He'd just gotten home, not having to make a detour via Holly's that afternoon. Just as he walked in the door his phone rang.

Blaine danced along to his ring tone for about five seconds before he realised he should probably answer his phone. He accepted the call without giving it a proper glance.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Blaine?"

The happy smile he'd had on his face dropped instantly.

"Kurt?" he asked.

"Yeah... look, I don't really know how to go about this but-"

"Is there something wrong with the insurance stuff? If you send it back to me I'll double check it all again, I swear I would never try to rip you off."

"What? No, it's not that."

"Oh... what is it then?"

"Uh, well, I hope you don't think I'm over stepping any boundaries. But, I was just picking Lily up from Holly's-"

"Oh, is she alright? Because I know a fantastic paediatrician, seriously, one phone call and I'll get you past all the waiting lists."

"Blaine? Please for the love of God just let me talk."

"Sorry."

"So, I was picking Lily up and uh... this random guy walked in saying he was there to pick Maddy up. And even though she was asking for you, Holly just let him walk off with her."

"Oh... was he by any chance tall, with dark hair and kind of pale?"

"Um, yes..."

"That was Noah." Blaine said with a sigh of relief.

"Who's Noah?"

"My uh... my ex-husband. I guess I forgot to remind her that she was spending this weekend with him."

"Oh." Kurt paused for a second. "I feel like an idiot now."

"No, no don't. Really, thank you for telling me anyway. If there had been a stranger saying he was picking her up I would definitely have liked to have known."

"Yeah," Kurt let out a shaky laugh. "Me too. By the way, if model-esque blonde is ever there to pick up Lily, that's Marcus, my um, husband."

"That's good to know." Blaine said, sitting himself down on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"So… ex-husband?"

"Really? We're going to talk about this."

"Call it natural curiosity."

Blaine bit his lip, he didn't know what he was supposed to say to that so he didn't say anything.

"It's a little strange isn't it?" Kurt continued.

"What is?"

"That we're basically strangers now. I guess I don't really know anything about you now."

"It's been a long time."

"So… I was thinking…"

"Oh no." Blaine teased.

"Quiet you. I was thinking about your offer. Lily came home the other day incredibly excited that her, and I quote 'bestest friend ever' has two dads just like her and well… I was… its not really important, but, for Lily's sake, I'd like to take you up on that play date offer."

"Maddy and I would love to have you over. I'll have to get back to you on when though."

"Of course, of course."

"And your um… Marcus is welcome to come along as well if he wants."

"Lily and I will be there."

"Ok, well, good."

"Yeah, it is good."

"Right." Blaine said, nodding though Kurt couldn't see him. "I'll let you go then, I'm sure you've got other things to do and I have a thrilling night with Johnny Depp ahead of me, so…"

"Johnny Depp? I'm jealous."

"Bye Kurt," Blaine said firmly, ready to the end the conversation before it started again.

There was a faint sigh from the other end. "Bye Blaine."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: See? This one was a little longer. Explanations about things such as Noah, and why Maddy's last name is Hill and not Anderson will come in later chapters. Hope you enjoyed it :) **


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